Chapter 356

No one had expected…

Lu En had stayed inside the Science and Technology Research Institute for a full year!

He never stepped outside for an entire year,

Maintaining super-intense cultivation every single day.

Overall, calculations showed.

Lu En's daily current-cultivation time exceeded six hours!

More than double the three hours Master Zefa had originally advised.

For a whole year, he maintained this routine.

While his strength surged forward, his body suffered no hidden injuries or lingering dangers from the current stimulation; instead, he radiated vitality, his spirit brimming, his physique powerful and robust.

"I wonder how much has changed outside…～."

"I've been holed up here for a year; the sea outside must have seen plenty of interesting events."

"It's time to leave now…"

Lu En slightly narrowed his eyes, making up his mind.

Now, the current-stimulation cultivation method of this chamber had become negligible in its effect on him.

In other words,

His strength had once again reached a brand-new bottleneck!

After a year of complete transformation, his strength had surged dramatically—but it had also rapidly brought him to a much larger threshold.

This bottleneck clearly couldn't be broken in a moment's time.

It required some time to consolidate.

Therefore,

Lu En had no intention of remaining any longer at the research institute.

"I wonder how much progress Smoker and the others have made over the past year?"

Lu En thought with interest.

After suddenly leaving the training camp and vanishing without a trace for a full year, Smoker and the others must surely be chasing after him with all their might.

I just don't know…

To what realm have they now ascended?

"In the blink of an eye, I'm already five years old."

"Time really flies."

"I've been away from the East Sea for over a year now. It's made me nostalgic—I wonder how Ace has been taking care of my foolish little brother, Little Lufei?"

"And the villagers of East Sea's Windmill Village…"

Lu En's heart swelled with emotion.

Having spent so long in seclusion and cultivation,

He felt deep curiosity and longing for everything beyond.

He, after all, was a social creature.

Not a solitary one.

Fortunately,

The research institute had plenty of researchers; otherwise, Lu En might have truly and completely severed himself from the social tier of life.

"I need to find an opportunity to ask those researchers whether any major events have occurred out there."

Lu En stretched his arms.

Then,

He activated his mind, silently murmuring to check his current status panel.

"System, bring up the status panel."

Before viewing his current attributes, his heart brimmed with strong anticipation.

One year…

His strength had undergone a complete transformation.

His status panel had naturally undergone a earth-shattering change!

Not long after,

A virtual status panel swiftly appeared, filling Lu En's vision.

【Host: Lu En】

【Strength: 148.1 (+102.9)】

【Speed: 140.6 (+109.4)】

【Endurance: 140.6 (+101.1)】

【Spiritual Power: 63 (+43.8)】

【Demon Back Completion: 19.19%】

【Overall Cultivation Effect Enhancement: 100x!】

This was the result of Lu En's full year of cultivation.

How long is a year?

To ordinary people,

A year of hard cultivation might not yield a very obvious increase in strength.

But for Lu En,

One year was enough to bring about a earth-shattering transformation in his strength!

Compared to a year ago, how much stronger was he now? A hundredfold?!

He had grown stronger by several hundredfold!

Even by a thousandfold!

This point could be clearly seen from the changes in his status panel alone.

Over the course of one year, the attribute panels for strength, speed, and stamina each increased by a full hundred points!

Know this.

The further one advances in strength, the harder it becomes to improve.

This is a well-known fact.

Yet,

Lu En achieved a strength increase of possibly over a thousandfold in just one year!

The current Lu En had grown so powerful as to be inconceivable.

Even he himself did not know just how strong he had become!

In addition to the massive changes in the three aforementioned attribute panels, his spiritual power had also surged by over forty points, causing a dramatic leap in the strength of his Emperor's Haki.

At this moment, Lu En could say with great confidence.

Even if Sengoku were a Marine Admiral, in terms of Conqueror's Haki strength, Sengoku likely could not compare at all to the Conqueror's Haki he now possessed.

Finally…

It was the progress of Ghost Back!

The remaining progress to reach 20% Ghost Back completion was now just a tiny bit!

If he pushed just a little harder,

he could push Ghost Back's completion to 20%!

Thus,

he would unlock a brand-new ability!

This, too, was the result of a year of grueling cultivation.

Lu En very anticipative.

When Ghost Back reached 20%, what ability would he unlock?

Two hundred times cultivation boost?

Or five hundred times?

Or even a thousand times?

Merely imagining it filled Lu En with waves of ecstatic joy.